Ukraine could be forced to reach a deal with Vladimir Putin after Donald Trump’s victory, a senior conservative warned yesterday.
Lord Hammond, who was the UK’s defense secretary and foreign secretary, also said the world was more dangerous following the result of the US presidential election.
The big conservative insisted the result was a boost for Russia, adding: “I suspect some of the biggest celebrations will have taken place in the Kremlin.”
‘There is also no doubt that (Trump) will have in mind a deal he negotiated that will resolve the situation in Ukraine.
‘For the rest of us in Europe, it is much more than Ukraine; it is about our ability to live in peace, to live without continued threat from our large and aggressive eastern neighbor.
“If Putin is allowed to win in Ukraine, I don’t think NATO’s eastern border will be stable and secure.”
Archive. Donald Trump previously said he could resolve the conflict within 24 hours.
Archive. Russia boasted that Trump’s election would likely be bad news for Ukraine
Archive. Trump previously threatened to withdraw from NATO and could cut funding to Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky was one of the first international leaders to congratulate Trump, saying he appreciated his “commitment to peace through strength” approach to global affairs. The Ukrainian president added: “This is exactly the principle that can bring a just peace to Ukraine closer.”
However, senior security sources fear that the offer presented to Ukraine is far from “fair.”
Additionally, a Trump administration would likely also oppose Ukraine’s membership in NATO, something Zelensky has repeatedly called for since the Russian invasion in 2022.
Lord Hammond also called on Britain and other Western states to increase support for Ukraine in case, as is widely feared, the United States reduces or cancels military aid.
He served as Secretary of Defense from 2010 to 2014, the year Russia invaded Crimea.
Later, as UK Foreign Secretary in 2016, Lord Hammond criticized Russia’s annexation of the peninsula and called on the Kremlin to return Crimea. The United Kingdom also supported sanctions against Russia for its initial offensive on Ukrainian territory.
In an alarming sign of how Trump’s return to the White House could influence Russian foreign policy, Kremlin officials celebrated his election victory. On the Telegram messaging app, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said: “Crying may remain overnight, but joy comes in the morning. Hallelujah, I would add myself.
Leonid Slutsky, head of the Russian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, predicted that Trump’s victory could trigger the collapse of the Ukrainian government and the end of Western aid.
He said: “Judging by the pre-election rhetoric, the Republican team is not going to throw more and more American taxpayer money into the furnace of the proxy war against Russia.”
Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, the United States has spent £40 billion on security aid to Ukraine.
Pro-Trump Republican lawmakers delayed recent aid packages, while Vice President-elect JD Vance has been a leading voice in the United States opposing further support for Ukraine. He has also called for the country to cede territory to Russia as part of a peace deal, a suggestion Zelensky dismissed as “too radical.”
A Kremlin official said yesterday that Russia would try to “achieve its objectives” in Ukraine after Trump’s victory.
Putin has no immediate plans to congratulate Trump on his victory, according to the Kremlin
Kamala Harris (left) with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (right) in September
Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of Ukraine’s foreign affairs committee, said his country had no choice but to continue resisting Russia, with or without US support.
He said: ‘We will continue in any case because it is about our survival. We have no choice. If we stop, we will lose our State and we will be exterminated as a nation.”
Ukraine is in a precarious state, having lost about a third of the territory it seized in Russia’s southern Kursk province, while Kremlin troops continue to make gains in eastern Ukraine.
Putin remains committed to fully capturing the ‘Donbas’ region in eastern Ukraine, a goal he could achieve in 2025 if the United States reduces or withdraws military aid.
Ukrainian commanders have repeatedly stressed that the situation on the front line is “difficult” and say that certain areas require a constant renewal of resources.
Such a replenishment would be difficult without the support of the United States.
Meanwhile, Russia is bolstering its resources with up to 10,000 North Korean troops, as well as rockets from Iran and technological components from China.